Evaluation of antidepressant activity of vanillin in mice

Objective: The main objective of this study was to evaluate antidepressant activity of vanillin in mice models of depression. Materials and Methods: Animals were divided into five groups, consisting six mice in each group. Out of these, three groups served as control (distilled water, imipramine, and fluoxetine) and the remaining two groups received test drug in two different doses (10mg/kg and 100mg/kg). All the drugs were administered orally one hour before the test procedure for acute study and daily for ten days for chronic study. Mice were subjected to forced swim (FST) and tail suspension tests (TST). Results: Both the doses of vanillin reduced the immobility duration in TST as well as in FST. In TST, there was a statistically significant decrease in the immobility in all the groups when compared to the control (distilled water) group. But the reduction of immobility in FST did not show statistically significant reduction in immobility in the groups treated with vanillin when compared with control. In the chronic study group that received vanillin at a dose of 100mg/kg, the immobility reduction was significantly lower when compared to the group receiving fluoxetine. Conclusion: Vanillin at the dosage of 100mg/kg has demonstrated antidepressant activity in mice, which is comparable with fluoxetine.